The Secret to Writing a Bestseller

I haven't a clue. :)

And I don't think there is one. There's no secret, no magic bullet. But I do think there's some basic ingredients to the bestseller recipe. Like . . .

Hard work.

Great writing.

Fresh storytelling.

Timing.

Opportunity.

Heaps of LUCK.

Mix all those up--and listen, I know the last three aren't really in your control--and you *might* have a bestseller. MIGHT. Because as y'all know, nothing is guaranteed, especially not in publishing.

But I believe there is something that will help improve your odds: write what you love.

Maybe it won't sell a bazillion copies, maybe it will. But if you're lucky, your book will touch a reader in a way no other book has. Because if you write what you love, your passion for your story and your characters gets infused in the pages themselves, and your readers will respond to it . . . they will feel it, and in the end, isn't that what you want? For your readers to feel? To be moved? To be transported to another place or time? To be scared? To want? To wonder? To fall in love? And if your novel touches enough people . . . voila! Now we're starting to talk bestseller. :)

So give yourself a gift this holiday season: permission to write what you love. Just write . . . without fear, without expectations. Without pressure. Write the story you're dying to write, because if you love it, chances are, another person will love it too. :) And maybe more than just one . . .

So what are you writing? And do you have any other ingredients to add to the bestseller mix?